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New marketing chief helps USPS practice what it preaches

Nov. 14, 2012 - Agency of the Month

When Nagisa Manabe arrived at the U.S. Postal Service six months ago, the agency
was allocating just 5 percent of its total marketing dollars toward direct mail
efforts aimed at promoting the agency's products and services.

"The surprising thing about that is, what we normally recommend to our customers
is 15-20 percent of their investment should be in direct mail," said Manabe, the
agency's new chief marketing and sales officer (CMSO).

Thanks to Manabe's direction, USPS is now practicing what it preaches.

"The first change we made was to say we were committed to spending at least 20
percent of our marketing dollars on direct mail and package communication," Manabe
said in an exclusive interview on Federal News Radio's Agency
of the Month program.

To that end, the agency sent a promotional pamphlet to every home in America right
after Election Day highlighting the Postal Service's holiday package and mailing
services. It was the first national mailing the Postal Service had sent since
2007.

"The truth is, I think that people are not aware of many of the services the
Postal Service offers. One of the things that, frankly, I wasn't aware of when I
started in this role, is that if I order a flat-rate box online from USPS.com, I can have that delivered
to my house, it can be packed, and then I can have a carrier pick it up, which is
really pretty surprising. It's really not something I expected. I am convinced, if
we let every citizen of the U.S., every resident of the U.S., understand and
really walk through the steps with them, they'd find us to be much more
accessible."

Despite the tough economy and tight budgets, Manabe said USPS is committed to the
marketing campaign it set forward.

"It is true that in a tough economy or with significant budget challenges, every
dollar we spend needs to be effective. There's no doubt of that. That said, we're
committed to investing in the mail and our package business," Manabe said. "Our
commitment is to continue to invest behind the parts of the business that are
growing and healthy and to shore up the parts of the business, which with a little
bit of nurturing would see better growth. So, we're actually standing firm on our
commitment in advertising."

From Campbell's Soup to Captain Morgan and Beyond

Unlike many of the top senior executives at USPS, Manabe has not
spent her entire career with the agency. Manabe's road to USPS winds through the
who's who of successful companies in the private sector. She began her career at
Procter & Gamble and has also worked for Johnson & Johnson, Campbell's Soup, Coca-
Cola and Diageo — the company that produces Captain Morgan rum.

"I had the good fortune of starting my career in marketing on the Ivory brand
— one of America's oldest brands. But, I have now come to find that the
Postal Service is probably one of the oldest brands in the country," Manabe said.
"The most amazing thing about the brand, I think, is that like many of the other
brands I've worked on, almost every American citizen has touched this brand at one
point or the other. In fact, I suppose there's literally nobody in the country for
whom they are not a customer of the Postal Service."

Surprisingly, she said, the pace of decision making at USPS is a lot quicker than
some of the other companies for which she has worked.

"Some of these big companies are actually pretty bureaucratic — filled with
layers, lots of decision makers, many people who weigh in to the decision around
marketing," Manabe said. "Here, that process is very streamlined. Really, it's
myself [and] the direct reports who report in to the CMSO making recommendations
for the executive leadership team and the Postmaster General, and we make
decisions every day. ... I think most people think a federal organization like the
United States Postal Service would be really bureaucratic. But that's really far
from the truth. It's really the fastest paced organization I've ever worked for."

While Manabe's official title with the agency is chief marketing and sales
officer, she says chief revenue officer would be more accurate.

"When I started in this job, I said, 'Gee, I wish my title wasn't so long. And,
instead of calling me the chief marketing and sales officer, I wish you could just
call me the chief revenue officer.' Because my job is to help the Postal Service
grow. And that's really my primary focus. Everything I do every day, I ask myself,
'Will it actually help to profitably grow our top-line growth?'"

On a daily basis, Manabe said her job can be broken down into three distinct
parts:

Customers - "Many of the best ideas for where to take the
marketing and the new products of the Postal Service come from our customers
directly. Every day I get communications from customers and, in almost every case,
we come up with a new idea or a new action that will help to grow our revenue and
help their business as well."

Marketing and product creation - "The other third of my time is
really working the building, is the way I think about it. What that is, is really
working with each of the cross-functional teams to really build and create new
marketing ideas and new products because new products are the lifeblood of the
Postal Service."

Development and training - "Many of the folks within the
marketing and sales organization need more development and coaching and training.
So, I spend a huge amount of my time really focused on making sure the
organization gets the input they need, the development they need, and the coaching
and training they need."

Innovation is key

In addition to the standard products the Postal Service offers, Manabe said the
agency is also focused on developing innovative new ideas to move the agency
forward.

"Our bottom line is, every day, we have carriers going to every single location in
the country — every business, every household. ... And because of that, we
have a huge opportunity to get more leverage out of that existing network. So, my
job is really to work with my team, to encourage folks to use the mail and to use
our package services but, to also make those services more easily accessible."

It's new Metro Post pilot program is attempting to do just that. The new same-day
delivery service launching in San Francisco allows a customer to order products
online from companies that have partnered with the Postal Service. USPS then
delivers those products to consumers the same day.

"All we're really doing is leveraging our existing network of equipment and
capability to deliver something that we think will be a fantastic service for the
American public. ... I think it's going to be an exciting new opportunity," Manabe
said. "We've already had over a few dozen companies contacting us interested, many
of them national companies, who would love to see us be successful in this test
and then extend beyond that."

However, she said, there are some challenges as the Postal Service continues to
adapt to the new environment it finds itself in.

"I think that the biggest challenge for the delivery industry, in general, is
actually our biggest challenge — which is that consumer and customer
expectations are changing rapidly. Our job is to keep pace with those rising
expectations," Manabe said. "Ten years ago people used to ask the question 'Should
I even give my credit card info online? Is that even safe?' Now, to turnaround and
say, 'I want to order something and I'd like to have it the very next day or the
same day' is incredible. In a world of rising expectations and changing
expectations, moving quickly enough and responding to customer and consumer needs
is really the toughest task. Keeping pace with that pace of innovation and change
is critically important, and having an entire organization move with that change
is really a big job."

Manabe said those expectations could change the face of the Postal Service in the
future.

"Our commitment going forward, 5, 10, 20 years, is that we will continue to keep
pace with the change in the U.S. economy so that we are as vibrant a delivery
service in 20 years as we were 100 years ago. That's our commitment," Manabe said.
"I believe you might not recognize us 20 years from now because we will have
changed so much, but we'll still be there delivering letters, packages and any
other form of communications required to every household in America."